#1. You know your net worth

#2. You have a Roth IRA

#3. You have no consumer debt – car, credit card, etc…

#FAIL. We still rock a car loan at around $15,000, even though we can pay it off anytime we want (does that earn me at least 1/2 a point? :))

#4. You have a “retire by” date

Kinda sorta maybe? I keep telling myself I want to be financially free by the time I’m 40 (3 years away), but I honestly haven’t done the math in quite a while, prob. because I know it’s not going to happen :)

On the flip side, I also don’t plan on retiring anytime soon, so it’s more about trying to get my *lifestyle* down pat right now more than anything else. If I were focused solely on the money here I’m pretty sure you’d have stopped reading this by now, haha… (You get an ad! You get an ad! You get an ad!)

#5. You have a side hustle or two

TRUE and FALSE. I still do some consulting/freelance writing on the side, but not routinely enough to really consider them true side hustles. The majority of my time is still spent on managing this blog here as well as my other one, Rockstar Finance. – both of which very much count as my full-time income as much as I wish they were on the side :) That was one of the things I had to get used to fast when going to self-employment: needing to survive on your side hustles!

#6. You have passive income

I do! Though is it cheating to count your retirement investments? VTSAX is always paying out dividends and compounding while I sleep, but outside of that nah – I haven’t been that great at the “passive” part of making income. I used to think blogging was passive at first, but have since awoken from my dream :)

#7. Your investments are worth more than your house

They are! But I also don’t own a house :) Looking back at the time we did though, it looks like our investments were around $400,000 while our house was valued at $300,000. Pretty cool thing to compare though – can’t say I’ve ever done that!

#8. You have a post retirement plan – volunteer, etc.

Yes! My post retirement plan is to keep working on things that I’m passionate about. Which is pretty much what I’m doing now, except without the money worry and business hassle, haha… I still very much struggle trying to mix business with pleasure here, and would love more than anything to just focus on the pleasure :)

#9. You save 50% of your household income

HAH! No way… It’s been a while since I’ve calculated it, but a rough estimate right now says we’d be around the 10% range. Nothing to write home about (especially as a financial blogger!), but not at the very bottom either. And I’m totally going to blame my kids on this as they are freakin’ expensive! Most notably, their childcare as we pay just as much for that every month as we do rent – ugh.

So if any of you are feeling down for not saving 90% of your income like other awesome bloggers are doing, please don’t :) As long as you saving *something* and actively working towards increasing it, you are on the right path. Not everyone can save a billion dollars at all stages of their life! We’re all working through them at our own pace, and we just keep doing our best as we go…

#10. You have backup plans

Ummm…. does going back to work count? Haha… I don’t think I’ll ever be above joining the work force again since it’s not the worst thing in the world. Though I feel like those who hate their jobs might have an upper hand here since they’d be MUCH more motivated to stay out for good, vs those of us who enjoy our gigs? A nice hidden perk, maybe?

Bonus point – You cut your own hair

YES!! Though when you have a style that removes 80% of it, it’s much easier to do it yourself :) Also, as Joe admits, this isn’t as fair a question to the ladies out there. So if you’re feeling slighted, here’s a replacement bonus question for you: Do you do your own nails?

Okay – quiz over! How’d you score?

Here’s Joe’s thoughts on what it means about the seriousness of your FIRE journey:

0-5 answered true: Skeptic

6-7 answered true: Novice

8-9 answered true: Committed

10+ answered true: Driven

I gave myself a 6 and 1/2, which puts me smack in the middle of the “Novice” territory, haha… Though I’d like to think it could also be labeled as the “coasters” too? For those of us who have the foundation down, but prefer going at our own pace at this given point in time?

As much as I love money and the challenges FIRE brings, I’ve also come to learn how perfectly okay I am not being “on” all the time too. I wish I could duplicate myself, but for now I just enjoy the ride and hope y’all don’t drink all the beer waiting for me at the finish line :) I’ll be meeting you there some day!

How did you score?

How Serious Are You About Early Retirement? (Quiz) was last modified: May 31st, 2017 by J. Money

I’m driven! Lost a point for having a car loan although like you I could pay it off as soon add I want to. Just hard to say no to a below 2% interest rate. But I got that point back by getting the bonus, been cutting my own hair for almost two years now.

I’m committed but I do wish I could earn that bonus point. I haven’t figured out a way to cut my hair on my own without looking like a complete moron. So I’m still working on figuring out the right hair cut that I can perform :)

I’m committed but I feel like I’m learning a lot about being just ok with where I am at since I’m moving forward. I have a hard time like you said with keeping the work and life balance in there. But I have come to learn with now having a son that it’s ok to enjoy the moments along the way!

Ironically I come up as driven. The bonus point makes up for number three as we have both a car loan and a mortgage. The ironic part is, I’ve set my date 19 years from now and my focus is financial independence, not retirement.

Dude! How come everyone always assumes women CAN’T cut their own hair? Might this be a well-meaning form of sexism? The feeling by so many women that they HAVE to have someone cut their hair is ridiculous. I always cut my own hair and I think that often long hair is easier to cut because you don’t have to worry about shaping it and there’s more leeway for mistakes. Don’t want to be half an inch short on one spot on a 1/4″ buzzcut! Ouch! : P

I’m totally with you on this. I think the bonus question is valid for men and women. It’s simply more frugal to do it yourself. I choose to splurge $20-$25 on having other people do my short hair styles every 2-3 months, but that isn’t because I’m female. My husband splurges and has his done too even though it’s a simple shave to a 1. But he enjoys the whole $15 head massage and hot towels experience every 3-4 months. It’s a silly, fun bonus question valid for anyone. :-) I just didn’t get it.

According to Joe, I am also a Novice (7.5 if I give myself a half point for the car loan that I choose to keep since it’s at 0.9%). The three outright misses are for investments being more than the value of our two homes (we’ll need $450k+ and most likely won’t be there for another 5 years), we only save 20-25% of our income, and we don’t cut our own hair.

Cutting your own hair – lol!! I’ve been cutting my hair for about 10 years now – just a simple buzz cut. I’m a novice. The biggest thing I need to do is set a early retirement date goal and start working toward that.

I’m a novice (scored a 7), but I also don’t really want to retire early. I love what I do for a living, so I have no real plans on stopping it any time in the near future. I could do this job for another 25-30 years and still be happy.

That’s a DAMN good position to be in – good for you! Not everyone finds their calling like that! :) (And imagine doing that job AND being financially free??? Whew…. no stress at all at that point, brotha)

Thank goodness for the bonus question – I am committed!! My side hustle and passive income game are severely lacking. I was hoping once I stop flying I will have the brain space to work on some of those ideas that are always creeping up but get pushed back due to other obligations. And post retirement plan?! I can’t think that far in advance but Im pretty sure it will be volunteer work with animal rescues. And I want to learn Spanish fluently…that will take some time! Great quiz, Joe!

We save 50% of our income but are never going to be able to retire early (thanks, student debt!). If the PSLF (public student loan forgiveness) sticks around, then maybe. Even with the student debt, I think if we decide not to have kids then it’s a possibility for us to retire by 50. Regardless, we eat 75-80% vegetarian meals, DIY a lot of stuff, and don’t go out much—would say that accounts for our ability to save.

Novice according to this… but in all fairness some of these are only possible with enough time in the game, especially for those of us in High cost of living areas. My house is worth ~600K conservatively, I’ve been serious about my retirement account (54k/yr) for the last 2 years. It will take time but Ill get to the point my investments are worth more.

I totally agree. I started seriously taking care of the future at a young age. Things were much cheaper then. In my area, the COL is now 113% (popular vacation spot). For some things, even higher. I built my small (never need to downsize) house and paid it off in 5 years putting 50% of my take home income toward it. At the same time, I built my emergency fund. After that, it got easier. I just kept adding money until I hit my retirement numbers and then realized I was still young and wanted to work, but not as much. So I have opted for part time work by cutting my job in half and getting someone that did sub work for me to take the other half of it. You do need a fair amount of years to make it all work.

Novice. WIth both of us we have plenty of time to work still. Just getting into our groove of what a good work/life balance looks like. Obviously, we are saving like crazy and have plans of early “retirement” but like you said retirement is more of a lifestyle change when you love what you do.

Do I get double bonus points for being a girl AND cutting my own hair?!? :)

I started doing that years ago. Not because I was trying to save money, but because I like to keep my hair long, with layers, and hairdressers just want to chop it off! So I started learning how to trim it myself. Plus, I actually really enjoy the process and look forward to it. If any ladies are interested, they can look at a few ‘how to’ videos on YouTube.

We still have a bit of work to do, but I’m proud of how many of these we’ve checked off! We’re still in the FIRE phase of eliminating our debt, so we haven’t built positive net worth yet, but we’re getting there!

I’m in the novice boat as well. And you’re right kids are expensive as F! But it’s okay I will set up some wage garnishments when they start working to make up the money we spent on them. That’s normal right?

In a few years I should be firmly in the committed group as I should have the car loan paid off and the investments should eclipse the house. It’s a fun journey!

That’s an accurate quiz! I’m a novice too. That’s actually not bad for a 25 year old…

Saving 50% of your income depends on your starting point. We’re frugal and we do alway 50%-80% savings rate but it’s impossible to have someone bringing in 30K to do the same but I think if you started early enough – with 30K and time you can retire early just the same but a little more bare boned.

Apparently I suck lol. But, I have no consumer debt, a house that will be paid off in 14 years or less, and save close to 30-40 percent of my income, as well as side hustle income. And I cut my own hair. I also bike for most of my transportation and make nearly all my own food, other than the occasional food outing which I classify as entertainment. I’d say we’re doing pretty good, J Money!

Although since I’m in a different country the IRA question didn’t apply – in Australia our retirement plans are locked down tight so getting money out early is impossible. Plus with all the recent changes a reasonable number of FIREees down here just ignore it. No point in planning to use your Superannuation when it’s 30 years away and the rules will definitely change between now and then.

It’s ‘my’ money, but I can’t access it till 65 – and I’m willing to bet that will be changed to 70 or 75 before I get there.

Nice! Just a matter of time at least… We’ll have one completely out of it and into school this Fall and CANNOT WAIT… then one more year after that our other one will go and it’ll be freeeeeedom, baby! FREEDOM!!! (unless I go and knock up my wife again, which, in all honesty, might be a possibility haha… i miss having babies around already!! Someone stop me!!)

Have already hit my numbers, now working part time and no longer need to save 50%. I live on part time plus investment income and do not touch the principal. Some of the questions are not entirely a good measurement. Like cutting your own hair. I request gift certificates for Christmas and birthday’s for that.

Committed! No Roth IRA (not eligible and the backdoor seems like way too much of a pain and not beneficial enough for the struggle.) I don’t cut my own hair, it’s short and I would do a terrible job – but I do cut my husband’s at home! Half a point?

I enjoyed that test. No matter what your score was, I assume only people who are on the path to FI or researching a lifestyle change would take the test. Everyone deserves a trophy for their efforts. It is not easy.

Committed! I only get my hair cut once a year, but have never tried doing it myself.

Early retirement isn’t actually my end goal. Rather I want to live a slower paced life that doesn’t include a full-time job. So I’m open to working even after I reach FI, but more and more I’m realizing I just want more flexibility in how I get to spend my time. Therefore, I’ll be taking a 3-month sabbatical later this year to test out whether I can make a go of some of my budding side hustles. It’s a little scary to think about walking away from my job, the stable paycheck, and the nice benefits, but then again it’s nearly 80 degrees outside and I’m stuck indoors behind a laptop. :)

I haven’t really done the quiz – but rather than be a role model for y’all, let me be your warning. I had aimed for retirement by 50. And achieved it. at 51 – my husband of 20 years walked without warning. Suddenly, I am backwards financially again – instead of having paid off the house, I am going to have to go get a mortgage. Instead of being able to run my own small business and live a slower paced life, that mortgage is forcing me back into the full time workforce. I have taken in house mate to help with the bills, that used to be shared. I am fortunate because I have had superannuation (your 401k?) building up since I was 18. But this is the kind of thing that can leave people suddenly destitute.
Do what you need to build up your emergency fund, keep your own bank account, watch out for STDs (sexually transmitted debt) that can end up in the asset pool when doing a property settlement. And definitely work towards early retirement – because when you least expect it, your situation can change without warning.

Yay we got a ten, even we aren’t saving 50% of our income. Hubby has a house that is paid off we are using for rental income. His retirement savings are worth double the value of our home, we have no car loans and credit cards are paid in full each month. Hubby cuts my hair for me, is where we got to ten, so there is no salon costs $$$. So I consider it the same savings, just letting someone who is good with the shears manage my locks. He cuts my hair, the children’s hair, his own, my mom’s and my best friend’s. He is very meticulous and always does a great job, so I am not compromising in any way. I told him not to get a swelled head, but three ladies who are very concerned about their hair looking good would rather have him cut their hair in our dining room than go to the salon.

I scored a 6. We just paid off debt, which is where every extra dime was going, but I’m excited about investing more and saving for financial independence. And I don’t cut my hair, but I cut my girls’ hair. That certainly counts for something! :)

And luckily there are plenty other ways to invest – what’s important of course is just that you’re doing it, wherever you’re able to and whichever route best fits your style (stocks, real estate, business, etc)

I would say cutting you own hair takes time and patience. I have been cutting my wife’s hair since after we first started dating and after a female friend/ “pro hairstylist” insisted I cut hers as pay back for the freebies she gave me, i gave over a hundred haircuts and trims to female friends that found out I could do it for them as frankly 99% of women hate the time and cost of going to the salon. And if they can get a free trim, they prefer it. Being a straight guy, I like long haired women. What is not cool is this mess, no money outlayed but it is pathetic. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/sep/28/roadtrip-fashions-brave-new-haircut
This is why you would never do it yourself, if you thought this looked good.

Another excellent post and fun quiz! I proudly scored 11. My husband has been cutting my hair for the last 3 years :) Salon (hair, nails, etc.) appointments are outrageously expensive and I prefer an early retirement. Don’t worry, I did invest in a professional cut before the wedding. Always look forward to reading your blog. Thanks for providing such insightful and inspiring posts!

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I, J. Money, only claim the thoughts from my head. I am not a banker, CPA, money manager or anything else of that sort. Please seek a professional for any "real" advice. More info: privacy & disclosure page